M-RT^T.C7 
1872 


Peters 

An  address  delivered  before  the  Alumni 
Association  of  the  College  of  physicians  and 
Surgeons  in  the  city  of  New  York,  February  28, 
1871. 


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AN 


ADDRESS 


DELIVERED   DEFOBE   THE 


ALUMNI    ASSOCIATION 


COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS, 


IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK, 


GEORGE    A.    PETERS,    M.D., 


February    28th,    1871, 


^ 


NEW    YOEK: 
Bradsteeet  Press,  279  Broadway. 

1872. 


AN 


ADDRESS 


UKI;IVKRKO    DEFORE    TUK 


ALUMNI     ASSOCIATION 


COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS, 


IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK, 


GEORGE    A.    PETERS,    M.D., 

Id 

February    28th,    1871. 


NEW    YORK: 

Bradsteeet  Press,  279  Broadway. 

1872. 


.797 


ADDRESS. 


A  year  ago  to-niglit  I  was  not  here ;  some  of  you  were  ;  you 

who  were,  are  to  blame  for  my  appearance  here  to-night  in  this 

guise.     Perhaps  it  would  have  been  better  for  all  of  us  had  I 

been  here.     I  should,  at  any  rate,  have  escaped  the  labor-pains 

of  composition,  and  you  would  not  have  been  obliged  to  listen 

»    to  the  feeble  cry  of  the  child  born. 

^v-        A  year  ago  to-morrow  morning,  or  thereabout,  while  seated 

90    in  my  easy  chair  waiting  for  the  "  coming  man,"  my  eye,  roam- 

..^-N^    ing   lazily  over   the    morning   paper,   fell  upon   a   paragraph 

announcing  that  the  Alumni  Association  of  the  College  of 

Physicians  and  Surgeons  had  met  the  evening  before  and  had 

a  good  time  generally. 

Suspecting  no  evil,  I  regretted  my  absence  from  the  meeting, 
and  was  rather  disposed  to  blame  the  secretary  for  not  taking 
more  pains  to  jog  the  memory  of  at  least  one  alumnus  who 
^C    would  have  greatly  enjoyed  the  reunion. 

*<_;         On  reading  further,  you  who  dread  such  things  as  I  do,  can 
rV)  readily  imagine  my  surprise  when  I  learned  that  I  had  been 
-    elected  your  president  for  the  coming  year. 

What  had  I  done  that  this  thing  should  befall  me?     Al- 

^    though   always   meaning  to  attend,  I  had  almost  universally 

been   absent   from  your  meetings.     Living,  as  I  supposed,  at 

peace  with  all  my  professional  brethren,  I  began  to  fear  that  I 

had  an  enemy,  and  that  he  had  caused  this  thing  to  be  done 

•^j^  unto  me. 

^       At  my  earliest  convenience  I  sought  out  one  of  the  commit- 

(J^^ee  and  asked  him,,  why  this?     He  replied  that  friends  had  thus 


used  me  and  not  an  enemy.  lie  said  other  tilings,  from  all  of 
which  I  gathered  that  the  otiice  was  not  much  "  hankered  after  " 
bj  thie  brethren,  and  that  I  being  absent,  consequently  not 
able  to  decline,  and  supposed  to  be  good-natured,  should  be 
elected  and  the  entire  matter  left  to  chance  and  the  future. 

I  asked  what  were  the  emoluments  and  penalties  pertaining 
to  the  high  position  ?  To  which  he  replied,  blandly,  that  the 
emoluments  were  not  large,  and  maliciously,  as  I  thought,  that 
the  penalty  was  to  "  speak  a  piece.'' 

As  the  time  was  a  year  off  in  the  future,  and  as  under  such 
circumstances  one  year  seems  very  like  a  thousand ;  likewise  as 
so  many  things  may  and  often  do  happen  in  a  year  to  postpone 
and  derange  our  best  laid  plans,  in  a  weak  moment  I  accepted. 

Spring  came,  and  if  you  recollect,  it  was  not  such  an  one  as 
Thomson  sings  in  melodious  measure,  and  the  hottest  of  all  hot 
summers  followed,  such  as  was  known  not  in  the  memory  of 
the  oldest.  All  recollection  of  what  I  was  to  do  melted  out  of 
me,  and  I  was  happy.  Then  came  a  lovely  autumn,  the  only 
really  enjoj^able  season  vouchsafed  to  us  who  dwell  in  these 
latitudes,  and  my  peace  of  mind  continued,  and  the  end  of  the 
year,  if  an  occasional  glimpse  of  it  was  revealed,  seemed  yet 
afar  off.  Finally  rude  winter  and  and  a  rapidly  returning. spring 
reminded  me  that  the  time  to  "  speak  my  piece  "  appi'oached. 

What  shall  it  be  ?  I  know  it  will  not  be  a  song  ;  I  hope  it 
may  not  "  turn  out  a  sermon." 

It  is  the  custom  at  family  gatherings  for  those  assembled  to 
recite  the  glories  of  a  common  ancestry,  and  to  especially  mag- 
nify the  beauties  and  accomplishments  of  their  nourishing- 
mother.  Let  us  imitate  so  worthy  an  example,  and  sing  the 
praises  of  our  Alma  Mater.  I  say  our  mother  only,  for  we 
seem  to  be  the  product  of  an  "  immaculate  conception,"  having 
no  father  whom  we  know  of  or  can  discover,  being  sort  of  half 
orphans. 

The  records  tell  us  that  our  mother  was  born  about  sixty- 
four  years  ago,  in  a  respectable  neighborhood  in  this  city,  I  was 


about  to  say  of  poor  but  honest  parents ;  she  seems,  however, 
not  to  have  been  born  after  the  manner  of  men,  but  rather  to 
have  sprung  into  being  in  the  full  vigor  of  her  womanhood, 
like  glorious  Athena  from  the  head  of  Zeus,  clad  in  helmet  and 
shield,  full  armed  and  ready  for  the  fray. 

Infancy  she  had  none,  and  so  escaped  the  perils  and  sec[uel8e 
of  dentition,  measles,  and  scarlet  fever. 

She  conceived  early,  for  do  we  not  read  that  under  the  care 
of  such  distinguished  physicians  and  accoucheurs  as  Mitchell, 
Miller,  Hossack,  and  Macneven,  she  gave  birth,  as  early  as  1811, 
to  eight  sturdy  boys,  among  whom  were  T.  Rorneyn  Beck  and 
John  W.  Francis,  who,  though  they  be  dead,  yet  speak. 

The  conscript  fathers  seem  to  have  treated  our  mother  with 
some  consideration  and  respect,  and  to  have  endeavored  to  free 
her  from  the  pinching  pangs  of  poverty ;  for  they  granted  an 
endowment  of  twenty  thousand  dollars,  which  enabled  her 
trustees  to  purchase  for  her  a  dwelling-place,  in  Pearl  street, 
since  which  time  she  has  never  been  without  a  local  habitation, 
although  several  times  obliged  to  change,  crowded  northward 
by  the  steady  march  of  trade. 

Our  parent  has  always  been  possessed  of  an  even  temper, 
accompanying  as  it  does  sound  physical  and  mental  health- 
nevertheless,  her  trustees  and  advisers  would  sometimes  quarrel 
amongst  themselves,  and  with  others;  and  as  a  result,  we  find, 
that,  "to  the  discussions  between  the  College  and  the  Kew 
York  County  Medical  Society,  which  began  in  1819,  there  suc- 
ceeded new  causes  of  discord  between  the  trustees  and.  the 
faculty.  These  culminated  in  the  resignation  of  the  entire 
faculty,  in  April,  -1826,  and  the  appointment  of  a  new  corps  of 
professors  a  few  months  afterwards."  Such  discord  and  nuis- 
fortune  could  not  tame  the  spirit  of  her  who  was  destined  to 
nurse  wise  men  and  heroes.  By  a  new  provision  in  the  consti- 
tution, the  faculty  were  excluded  from  the  board  of  trustees, 
and  both  bodies  have  since  worked  in  harmony.  The  College 
removed  from  Barclay  to  Crosby  street,  in  November,  1887, 


6 

where  it  remained  for  nearly  twenty  years,  and  where  myself, 
and  many  of  you  with  me  here  to-night,  were  born  into  the 
profession;  let  us  hope  to  a  life  of  usefulness  and  honor.  The 
spacious  and  convenient  edihce,  in  which  we  are  now  assembled, 
has  been  the  homestead  since  Januar3\  1856,  and  now  bears  the 
title  of  "  The  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  in  the  City 
of  New  York,  Medical  Department  of  Columbia  College." 

The  next  hegira  will  be  made,  I  trust,  to  the  neighborhood 
of  some  large  hospital,  in  intimate  connection  with  which  the 
sphere  of  usel'idness  may  be  enlarged,  and  greater  facilities 
afforded  for  the  broadest  and  deepest  teaching  of  our  noble  art. 

Except  we  pause  in  the  march,  look  back  and  reflect,  we  can 
hardly  appreciate  the  wonderful  changes  and  improvements 
which  have  come  to  pass,  in  the  teaching  and  practice  of  medi- 
cine and  surgery,  since  the  formation  of  this  College. 

It  cannot  be  said  of  those  who  have  taught,  and  toiled,  and 
practiced  in  our  profession,  during  the  past  century,  that  "  the 
forms  of  the  fathers'  thoughts  were  the  forms  of  the  sons',"  and 
they  have  not  been  employed  in  "  merely  treading  into  paths 
the  foot-prints  of  their  distant  ancestors."  They  have  made 
broad  avenues,  opened  new  vistas,  explored  territories  before 
unknown,  and  made  discoveries,  the  mere  mention  of  which 
causes  a  thrill  of  satisfaction,  and  we  rejoice  that  our  lives  have 
fallen  in  these  times. 

Three  centuries  ago,  when  Elizabeth,  the  proudest  of  Eng- 
land's sovereigns,  reigned — an  age  in  which  literature  and 
science  made  gigantic  strides — where  stood  our  profession?  It 
is  narrated  that  "  Elizabeth,  in  1566,  went  on  progress  to 
Oxford  University.  The  days  of  her  stay  were  spent  in  *  *  * 
attending  the  exercises  of  the  University.  The  Professor  of 
Medicine  maintained,  in  the  Queen's  presence,  that  it  was  not 
the  province  of  the  physician  to  cure  disease,  because  diseases 
were  infinite,  and  the  infinite  was  beyond  the  reach  of  art;  or, 
again,  because  medicine  could  not  retard  age,  and  age  ended  in 
death,  and,  therefore,  medicine  conld  not  preserve  life." 


In  our  day,  the  art  of  medicine  is  so  far  advanced  that  we 
can  affirm  with  confidence  that  many  diseases  are  cured  ;  not 
left  to  run  their  course  until  they  are  run  out,  but  checked  mid- 
way in  their  career  and  cured.  The  physician  of  to-day  has  no 
fear  of  miasma,  for  he  knows  that  witli  quinine  it  can  be  van- 
quished. Hence,  the  traveller  goes  upon  scientific  journeyings, 
into  the  tropical  jungle,  with  the  assurance  that  he  will  escape 
the  perils  by  disease  and  return  ladened  with  material  for 
increasing  the  general  fund  of  knowledge.  The  haixly  pioneer 
fears  not  to  march  onward  and  rapidly  extend  the  area  of 
civilization.  Even  the  "Star  of  Empire,"  with  more  confidence, 
takes  "  its  westward  way." 

When  some  of  you  who  now  hear  me,  graduated  years  ago, 
what  were  the  advantages  of  the  student  as  compared  with 
now?  Our  teachers  were  diligent,  faithful  men,  but  were 
obliged  to  rely  chiefly  on  didactic  teaching,  with  only  occasional 
clinical  instruction.  The  microscope,  as  applied  to  medicine, 
was  in  its  infancy,  and  its  wonderful  revelations,  which  have 
shed  such  floods  of  light  upon  the  physiological  and  pathologi- 
cal condition  of  tissues  and  organs,  and,  consequently,  so  sim- 
plified the  treatment  of  many  diseases,  were  hardly  dreamed  of 
by  the  wildest  enthusiast.  Now  the  student  of  a  year  sees 
with  his  eyes,  and  reads  intelligently,  what  to  you  was  a  sealed 
book. 

Then  the  records  of  disease  and  experience  were  clear  for  the 
times,  but  auscultation  and  percussion  have  forced  the  cavity 
of  the  human  chest  to  reveal  secrets  which  were  only  guessed 
at.  The  thermometer  and  sphygmometer,  in  their  daily  record, 
have  a  chart,  with  the  voyages  of  those  who  have  preceded 
us  marked  out  for  our  guidance,  showing  the  hidden  rocks 
and  quicksands,  and  "  conducting  us  in  safety  to  the  haven 
where  we  would  be." 

One  clinique  a  week,  and  that  a  surgical  one,  was  all  we  had. 
Now  each  department  in  medicine  and  surgery,  and  almost 
every  day  in  the  week,  has  its  clinique,  and  abundant  matter 


8 

is  farnislied  for  tlie  cureful  study  imd  observation  of  disease. 
The  foculty  is  well  i-epresented  in  our  hospitals,  and  crowds  of 
students  follow  thern  in  their  daily  rounds,  and  at  the  bed-side 
apply  the  rules  and  teachings  of  the  lecture-room. 

Dispensaries,  infirmaries,  and  asylums,  multiply  on  every 
side,  the  doors  of  which  are  thrown  wide  open  to  the  diligent 
searcher  after  truth  and  experience,  which  is  there  to  be  obtain- 
ed under  the  guidance  and  direction  of  earnest  workers,  whose 
great  desire  is  to  impart  to  others  what  they  themselves  have 
dug  from  the  deep  mines  and  blasted  from  the  hard  quarries 
of  scientific  and  practical  medicine. 

A  generation  ago,  to  practice  as  a  specialist  was  to  rank  with 
quacks  and  nostrum-venders.  Now,  nearly  every  organ  in  the 
body  has  its  worshippers,  who  find  abundant  field  for  study  and 
labor  in  unrolling  its  anatomy,  exploring  its  physiology,  and 
spying  into  the  pathological  changes,  actual  and  possible. 

Medical  periodicals — weekly,  monthly,  and  quarterly — have 
multiplied  amongst  and  around  about  us.  The  practitioner 
observes  more  closely  his  cases,  and  publishes  them  more 
frequently,  than  of  old.  Thus,  by  writing  and  reading  (two  of 
the  three  famous  democratic  r's),  is  the  general  stock  of  knowl- 
edge increased,  and  all  made  better  and  wiser  physicians. 

I  am  sorry  to  be  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  quackery  has 
held  its  own  during  the  years  that  have  added  so  much  to  our 
noble  art.  As  have  increased  the  medical  periodicals,  so  have 
multiplied  the  daily  papers.  Men  and  women  are  no  less 
human  now  than  of  yore.  The  advertising  columns,  which  are 
open  to  all  who  pa}^,  teem  with  notices  of  balsams,  balms,  and 
cordials ;  pills,  potions,  and  pomades ;  all  of  which  are  eagerly 
purchased  and  applied ;  the  proceeds  greatly  enriching  Hallo- 
ways,  Helmbolds,  and  Humbugs.  . 

It  is  said  that  the  newest  popular  maps  of  the  United  States, 
now  sold  in  China,  "divide  our  country  into  two  sections,  as 
the  Bachu  and  the  Bitters  drinkers." 

In  this  connection  I  would  state  that  the  graduates  fi'om  this 


College  have,  with  very  few  exceptions,  followed  the  narrow 
and  rugged  path  which  alone  leads  to  true  professional  dignity. 
Some  have  been  sorely  tempted,  and  have  left  the  direct  road, 
seeking  shorter  cuts,  which  have  led  tliem  wandering  and 
groping  through  the  mazes  of  various  pathies,  only  to  end  in 
regret  and  disappointment.  Let  us  not  forget  the  days  of  out 
youth,  and  as  these  wanderers  return,  let  us  welcome  them 
home  again. 

In  our  time,  great  advances  have  been  made  in  surgery. 
The  problem  which  so  long  puzzled  the  profession,  how  to 
make  extension  so  as  not  to  inflict  serious  injury  to  the  soft 
parts,  was  at  length  solved  by  a  New  Hampshire  surgeon,  who 
taught  us  "  how  to  do  it"  by  the  simple  use  of  adhesive  plas- 
ter. The  knowledge  soon  travelled  far  and  wide  over  the 
country,  and  as  a  consequence  many  a  nian  this  day  walks 
erect  and  free  from  pain  or  blemish,  who,  except  for  this  simple 
contrivance,  would  limp  and  stumble  along  the  road  with 
shortened  limb  and  aching  cicatrices. 

When  we  began  practice  the  treatment  of  even  simple  fracture 
of  the  thigh  bone  was  a  serious  matter  to  the  surgeon,  and  a 
source  of  great  discomfort  if  not  of  actual  danger  to  the  patient. 
With  the  old  appliances  of  long  splints,  splint  cloths,  pads, 
bandages,  patent  boots,  and  other  contrivances  for  relieving 
bony  prominences  from  pressure,  and  diminishing  torture,  tor- 
ture was  only  made  a  little  more  endurable,  and  shortening  of 
the  limb  from  an  inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  was  the  rule,  the 
exceptions  to  which  were  rare  and  could  be  counted  on  the 
fingers  of  one  hand  by  any  surgeon  in  large  practice. 

Now  how  changed.  With  adhesive  plaster  and  elastic  ex- 
tension by  the  weight  and  pully,  as  first  introduced  at  the  New 
York  Hospital,  and  to  the  profession  at  large,  by  one  of  our 
own  graduates.  Dr.  Gurdon  Buck,  the  patient  tastes  not  the 
horrors  of  a  middle  passage,  but  is  carried,  by  easy  stages,  from 
the  first  pain  of  a  shortened  limb,  over-lapping  bone,  and 
wounded  muscles,  with  no  absolute  decubitus,  as  though  glued 

2 


10 

to  the  bed,  to  complete  recovery,  with  unabraded  integument, 
■a  sound  heel,  and  a -limb,  if  not  absolutely  the  length  of  its 
fellow,  so  near  it  that  the  accurately  graduated  tape-measure 
scarcely  discovers  the  difference. 

One  would  suppose  that  results  such  as  these,  so  frequently 
observed  and  recorded,  would  challenge  the  attention  of  sur- 
geons abroad.  Here,  however,  is  a  rare  instance  of  honor 
awarded  to  a  prophet  in  his  own  country,  and  his  teachings 
disregarded  in  other  lands. 

It  has  been  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  young  and  enthu- 
siastic American  surgeons,  travelling  abroad,  could  secure  atten- 
tion to  this  method  of  treatment,  or  obtain  the  opportunity  to 
apply  it.  Even  when  applied  it  has  been,  by  the  majority, 
treated  as  a  Yankee  invention,  and  given  the  go-by.  So  prone 
are  we  to  look  with  disfavor  on  another's  offspring. 

The  use  of  plaster-of-paris  in  the  treatment  of  fractures — 
simple  and  compound — has  given  us  a  neat,  firm,  and  durable 
dressing,  which  the  surgeon  of  to-day  would  be  loath  to  ex- 
change for  the  cumbersome  and  awkward  splints  of  the  olden 
time. 

During  my  student  life,  and  in  my  early  experience  as  an 
hospital  interyie,  all  operations  were  done  without  any,  save  the 
most  inefficient  and  bungling,  efforts  to  prevent  pain.  The 
patient  was  bound  like  a  malefactor  for  the  trial  by  "  question." 
The  glistening  blade  went  keenly  through  integument  and 
muscle,  and  the  saw  crashing  through  the  bone.  The  actual 
and  potential  cautery  was  presented  to  his  notice  in  all  its 
naked  deformity,  wearing  not  even  a  mask  to  hide  its  ugliness. 

All  discussion,  as  the  operation  proceeded,  was  poured  into  his 
unwilling  but  listening  ear,  until,  between  pain  and  terror,  he 
was  little  better  than  a  maniac,  screaming  and  struggling  in  the 
hands  of  the  inquisitors. 

It  is  readily  seen  that  the  effect  of  all  this  was  not  especially 
soothing  to  the  nerves  of  the  surgeon ;  and  brave  and  strong 
indeed  must  have  been  the  man  who,  under  such  circumstances, 


11 

and  with  such  surroundings,  could  with  clear  eye  and  steady 
hand  course  with  the  keen-edged  knife  along  the  margin  of 
dangerous  regions,  exposing,  but  not  injuring,  vessels  which 
carried  the  current  of  the  patient's  life,  or  nerves  which  gave 
sensation  and  motion. 

Behold  in  these  times  the  mighty  difference.  The  power 
of  producing  absolute  insensibility  to  pain,  by  the  inhalation 
of  a  subtile  vapor,  is  discovered — undoubtedly  the  greatest 
boon  conferred  during  the  past  century,  by  our  profession,  on 
suffering  humanity. 

I  was  present  and  assisted  in  its  administration,  for  the  first 
time  in  this  city,  to  a  patient  in  the  New  York  Hospital,  and  I 
well  remember  the  exquisite  satisfaction  I  experienced  when 
he  fell  into  a  quiet  sleep,  as  did  Adam  in  the  garden,  and  sub- 
mitted, without  a  murmur,  to  a  painful  operation  (not,  by  the 
way,  the  removal  of  a  rib),  awakened  to  consciousness,  and 
could  hardly  be  convinced  that  the  knife  had  scarred  him. 

I  then  saw  before  me,  instead  of  darkness,  thunderings  and 
tempest,  "  green  fields  and  pastures  new,"  in  which  I  have 
wandered  ever  since,  feeling  that  I  carry,  corked  in  a  vial,  the 
spirit  which  controls  pain ;  that  limbs  can  be  lopped  off,  and 
children  born,  without  suffering ;  the  only  cry,  if  any,  being 
"more,  doctor,  more!" 

The  silver  suture,  introduced  by  Dr.  Sims,  who  is  a  son  of 
New  York  by  adoption,  has  revolutionized  the  whole  practice 
of  surgery,  as  applied  to  the  lesions  accompanying  parturition. 
In  olden  times  the  rule  was,  that  woman,  once  the  subject  of 
vessico-vaginal  fistula,  always  remained  a  sufferer,  and  went  to 
her  grave  with  the  bitter  experience  that  children  are  born  in 
sorrow.  Occasionally,  a  master-hand  and  indomitable  perse, 
verance  succeeded  in  healing  this  lesion.  Now,  as  a  result  of 
his  labors,  investigations,  and  experience,  assisted  by  others 
who  have  been  stimulated  by  his  example,  any  good  practitioner 
of  surgery  is  confident  that  he  can  attack  a  fistula  with  the 
certain  assurance  of  a  perfect  cure.     Out  of  this  practice  has 


12 

o-rown  the  "Woman's  Hospital,  one  of  the  noblest  charities  of 
our  truly  charitable  city.  An  institution  which,  under  the 
surgical  charge  of  Dr.  Emmet  and  able  colleagues,  is  doing  a 
good  work  for  wounded  and  suffering  woman. 

Time  would  fail  me  to  speak  of  the  ophthalmoscope,  the 
endoscope,  and  the  laryngoscope,  which  enable  us  to  peer  into 
passages  and  cavities  before  unexplored,  save  by  the  knife  of 
the  anatomist,  and  reveal  to  our  gaze  lesions  and  changes  before 
this  only  suspected ;  of  acupressure — a  ready  and  certain 
method  of  controllino-  hemorrhao-e— second  onlv,  if  indeed 
second  at  all,  to  the  ligature ;  of  the  hypodermic  use  of  reme- 
dies, when  a  few  drops,  introduced  beneath  the  skin,  remove 
the  sting  from  pain,  or  cause  quotidian  and  tertian  to  vanish. 
These,  and  a  hundred  others,  throng  upon  me ;  but  I  must 
pass  on. 

A  thought  suggests  itself,  which,  with  your  permission,  I 
will  dwell  upon  for  a  few  moments. 

All  now  within  the  sound  of  my  voice  have  doubtless 
gloried  in  the  name  and  record  of  the  New  York  Hospital, 
chartered  in  the  reign  of  King  George  HI,  July  13th,  1771. 
The  corner-stone  was  laid  in  1773,  but  the  building,  when 
almost  completed,  was  nearl}^  destroyed  by  fire,  February  28th, 
1775.  During  the  war  of  independence  it  was  used  for  bar- 
racks, and  was  not  in  a  condition  to  be  opened  as  a  hospital 
until  January  3d,  1791.  From  time  to  time  new  buildings 
were  erected  upon  the  grounds,  and  the  original  building, 
known  as  the  "  main  house,"  was  enlarged  and  improved.  The 
elms,  planted  a  century  ago,  flourished  apace,  shaded  its  grand 
old  front,  and  gladdened  the  eye  of  every  passer  in  the  Broad- 
way throng,  be  he  bent  on  business  or  pleasure.  Within  its 
walls,  Wright  Post,  J.  Kearney  Eodgers,  Valentine  Mott,  and 
Alexander  H.  Stevens,  achieved  those  surgical  triumphs  which 
made  the  New  York  Hospital  famous  the  world  over,  and 
sowed  seed  which  ripened  into  fruit  worthy  of  them. 

I  will  venture  to  say  that  no  institution  in  this  country  has 


13 

turned  out  as  many  able  men,  or  afforded  to  our  profession  as 
much  noble  teaching  and  healthful  stimulus  to  laljor  for  the 
■  common  good. 

Where,  alas,  is  she  now  !  Gone — forever  gone  fi-om  the  old 
familiar  spot.  The  noble  elms,  planted  by  our  wise  fathers 
with  the  fond  hope  that  thej  would  yield  only  to  disease  and 
decay,  incident  alike  to  man  and  tree,  are  levelled  in  the  dust, 
and,  with  grief  and  shame  be  it  spoken,  no  sl^ilful  woodman 
officiated  at  the  sacrifice,  but  they  fell  before  repeated  and 
bungling  blows  from  the  dull  ax  of  the  rude  navvy.  The 
gentle  eminence  on  which  she  sat  so  proudly,  has  disappeared 
before  the  shovel  of  the  inevitable  contractor.  Streets  have 
been  cut  through  her  ample  and  pleasant  grounds.  Marble 
warehouses,  in  long  and  tu'esome  rows,  have  risen  as  if  by 
magic.  Trade  and  commerce  now  sit  enthroned  on  the  spot 
which  all  had  hoped  was  forever  consecrated  to  charity  and 
good  works. 

Why  this  change  ?  Let  us  examine  the  record.  The  gov- 
ernors of  the  Hospital,  in  their  annual  report  to  the  Legislature 
for  1869,  state  that  poverty  was  the  cause.  I  will  quote  their 
own  words :  "  The  annual  State  appropriations  had  ceased ; 
donations  and  bequests  were  always  uncertain,  and  had  been 
rendered  still  more  so  by  a  general  conviction  of  that  portion 
of  the  community  sympathizing  with  the  humane  objects  of 
the  Hospital,  that  the  valuable  land  occupied  by  the  Hospital 
buildings  should  be  made  to  yield  income  for  the  support  of 
the  Hospital  in  some  other  location,"  etc.,  etc.  They  say  "  that 
the  proceedings  of  the  board  of  governors  for  the  last  ten 
years  will  show  that  the  absorbing  theme  of  discussion  and 
investigation  has  been  to  devise  means  for  the  permanent 
increase  of  revenue,  in  order  to  extend  the  benefits  of  the 
Hospital  to  a  larger  number  of  the  sick  and  injured;  and  that 
the  leasing  of  the  lands  on  Broadw^ay,  Worth,  Church,  and 
Duane  streets,  was  finally  adopted,  with  reluctance,  as  the  only 
means  adequate  to  solve  the  problem.     To  have  continued  even 


14 

the  restricted  operations  of  tlie  Hospital,  in  the  face  of  accumu- 
lating indebtedness  and  increasing  demand  for  gratuitous  hos- 
pital treatment,  with  no  ascertained  or  probable  source  of  addi- 
tional annual  income,  would  have  subjected  this  board  to  the 
well-merited  censure  of  your  honorable  body  and  this  com- 
mutiitj.  Such  are  the  circumstances  and  motives  which  con- 
trolled the  action  of  the  board  of  governors  in  respect  to  the 
old  Hospital  grounds,  and  in  the  light  of  these  facts  they  are 
willing  to  be  judged. 

"  The  board  are  sensible  of  the  heavy  responsibility  that 
rests  upon  them  to  administer  their  trust  judiciously,  liber- 
ally, and  economically,  and  are  confident  that  their  next  annual 
report  will  make  manifest  that  their  sympathies  and  energy 
have  been  successfully  devoted  to  perpetuating  and  extending 
the  usefulness  of  the  important  charity  under  their  charge." 

After  such  a  declaration,  you  would  very  naturally  expect 
that,  having  leased  the  grounds  and  thus  secured  the  "  addi- 
tional annual  income,"  the  board  of  governors,  who  for  ten 
years  past  have  been  absorbed  in  the  discussion  as  to  how  the 
benefits  of  the  Hospital  could  be  extended  to  a  larger  number 
of  the  sick  and  injured,  would  be  up  and  doing,  and  that  long 
ere  this  something  worthy  of  them  and  the  trust  they  hold 
would  have  been  at  least  commenced. 

Listen  to  a  plain  statement  of  facts : 

The  medical  board  have,  from  the  first,  watched  the  progress 
of  affairs  with  great  anxiety;  have  protested  against  even 
the  temporary  suspension  of  the  institution.  We  have  urged 
upon  the  governors  the  necessity  for  prompt  action ;  have 
diligentl}^  labored  to  find  eligible  pieces  of  property,  which 
might  be  obtained ;  have  found  such  a  location,  which  can  be 
had,  and  which  is  very  desirable,  situated  as  it  is  on  the  west 
side  of  the  town,  far  removed  from  any  other  hospital,  and 
accessible  to  a  district  which  would  furnish  ample  material  to 
fill  its  wards.  A  committee  from  the  board  of  governors  was 
appointed  to  examine  into  the  matter.     The  committee  was 


15 

made  up  of  u  few  men  in  the  board  who  arc  ihv  progress,  and 
tliej  reported  favorably.  The  board,  however,  by  a  large  ma- 
jority, dismissed  the  subject,  and  in  opposition  to  the  report  of 
their  own  committee  and  our  individual  and  united  pleadings 
as  a  medical  board,  adhere  to  their  original  intention.  What 
think  you  is  that  intention?     Listen,  while  I  tell  it  you. 

Years  ago,  when  there  was  no  provision  in  this  city  for  the 
care  of  lunatics,  except  the  cold  charity  of  the  alms-house,  the 
New  York  Hospital  spread  its  sheltering  wing  over  that  unfor- 
tunate class,  and  erected  a  building  upon  their  grounds  where 
they  could  be  cared  for.  In  time,  as  the  wants  of  the  Hospital 
for  the  sick  and  maimed  increased,  and  more  room  was  needed, 
land  was  secured  at  Bloomingdale,  buildings  erected,  and  the 
asylum  removed  to  that  location,  the  building  formerly  used 
for  lunatics  being  converted  into  a  hospital  proper,  and  devoted 
to  the  accommodation  of  sick  and  injured  seaman,  for  whose 
support  the  State  paid  a  certain  sum  per  head. 

The  property  at  Bloomingdale,  fronting  as  it  does  upon  one 
of  the  new  boulevards,  is  now  immensely  valuable,  and  the 
board  have  determined  to  remove  the  asylum  to  White  Plains, 
or  some  other  place,  and  to  this  they  intend  to  devote  all  their 
energies  and  means. 

Years  hence — for  we  all  know  how  slowly  all  such  projects 
are  accomplished — when  the  new  asylum  shall  be  completed, 
they  propose  to  allow  the  Hospital  again  to  come  into  being, 
and  occupy  the  buildings  then  vacated  at  Bloomingdale,  far, 
far  away  from  wharves,  factories,  railroad  stations,  and  a  dense 
population.     In  the  meantime  the  Hospital  sleeps — is  dead. 

The  absolute  need  of  a  new  asylum  is  doubted  by  very 
many.  Since  the  early  days  of  its  usefulness  great  changes 
have  come  to  pass.  The  State  has  provided,  and  is  still  engaged 
in  increasing  her  provision,  for  lunatics  ;  and  private  enterprise 
and  charity  is  actively  at  work,  here  and  all  over  the  State, 
multiplying  asylums. 

By  what  right,  except  that  of  might,  do  the  governors  bury 


16 

the  Hospital,  viituall}'  ignore  its  usefulness,  and  devote  tlieir 
funds  to  buildings  and  grounds  of  questionable  utility? 

AVbo  were  the  founders  of  the  New  York  Hospital?  By 
wliose  inl^uence  was  the  charter  obtained,  and  the  funds  chiefly 
raised  ?  In  fact,  who  made  the  New  York  Hospital  what  it 
was  from  the  beginning  to  the  time  when  it  lay  gasping,  dying, 
in  Duane  street,  now  more  than  a  3^ear  ago?     Doctors ! 

Its  charter  was  granted  by  George  III,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
of  Great  Britain,  Fi-ance,  and  Ireland,  King,  Defender  of  the 
Faith,  who  ''  sent  greeting  to  his  loving  subjects  Peter  Middle- 
ton,  Samuel  Bard,  and  John  Jones,  phj^sicians,  by  their  humble 
petition  presented  unto  our  trusty  and  well-beloved  Cadwallader 
Golden,  Esq.,  Lieut. -Gov.,  &c." 

Through  the  exertions  of  Dr.  John  Fothergill  and  Sir  William 
Johnson,  uames  eminent  in  our  profession,  considerable  contri- 
butions were  obtained  in  Great  Britain.  It  was  instituted  for 
the  benefit  of  the  respectable  sick  poor  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
a  class  too  intelligent  and  not  poor  enough  to  be  absolute  pau- 
pers. Let  its  records  show  how  it  has  been  esteemed  by  that 
class,  and  also  the  good  it  has  wrought  among  them. 

Nothing  is  said  in  the  original  charter  about  a  lunatic  asylum. 
A  hospital  for  the  treatment  of  disease  and  surgical  accidents 
was  established  and  intended  to  be  perpetual,  the  j^rsi!  if  not 
the  ordy  care  of  the  governors. 

One  great  cause  of  the  departure  from  the  straight  path  of 
duty  and  responsibility,  seems  to  me  to  lie  in  the  fact  that  the 
profession  has  no  representation  in  the  board  of  governors.  I 
do  not  believe  that  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  any  hos- 
pital can  reach  the  highest  point  of  excellence  except  its  med- ' 
ical  board  constitutes  a  part  of  its  board  of  governors.  Let  it 
be  a  minority  if  you  please,  but  still  a  minority  so  respectable 
in  numbers  a#to  command  attention  and  secure  a  fair  hearing 
of  what  they  have  to  say  on  all  questions  in  which  they  from 
their  training  and  experience  have  the  ripest  knowledge. 

There  seems  to  be  in  the  minds  of  all  oovernino-  boards  of 


17 

hospitals,  in  this  comiminity  at  least,  a  certain  jealousy  of  the 
medical  men  connected  with  them.  We  are  treated,  to  be  sure, 
with  a  certain  sort  of  respect,  and  our  opinions  are  formally 
asked,  but  except  in  clear  cases  of  life  and  death,  how  often  are 
they  accepted  ?  The  opinion  of  an  architect  on  the  subject  of 
ventilation  and  the  number  of  cubic  feet  of  fresh  air  required  by 
.  a  patient,  is  preferred  to  ours ;  and  a  hireling  steward  is  fre- 
quently considered  a  better  judge  of  fitting  food  for  an  invalid. 

To  what  degree  this  feeling  is  sometimes  carried  I  will  illus- 
trate. A  certain  old-time  and  influential  governor  of  one  of 
our  hospitals  was  applied  to  for  aid  and  counsel  in  establishing 
a  hospital  in  the  neighboring  city  of  Brooklyn.  He  gave  freely 
from  the  stores  of  his  ripe  experience,  and  closed  with  the  fol- 
lowing injunction :  "  Whatever  you  do,  be  sure  to  keep  your 
foot  on  the  necks  of  the  doctors." 

This  should  not  be  so.  The  medical  man  who  devotes  his 
energies  to  developing  the  greatest  amount  of  good  to  the  suf- 
ferers within  the  hospital  wards,  and  who  does  this  without 
reward  of  any  kind,  except  what  comes  from  a  good  conscience 
and  the  sense  of  duty  done,  is  certainly  entitled  to  a  voice  in 
the  management  of  the  institution  with  which  he  is  connected, 
and  the  laymen  associated  with  him  would  find  him  at  all  times 
an  able  and  earnest  coadjutor. 

I  have  heard  that  it  has  been  said  by  some  who  are  responsi- 
ble for  the  fate  of  the  New  York  Hospital,  "  that  the  doctors 
are  only  in  a  hurry  for  its  reconstruction  that  they  may  have  a 
field  for  teaching,  and  thereby  glorify  themselves."  If  this  were 
true  (all  but  the  glorifying),  why  should  it  not  be  so  ? 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  original  founders  that  the  Hospital 
should  be  used  as  a  school  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term ; 
where  the  student  should  see  disease  and  accident  treated 
under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  and  in  the  best  man- 
ner known  to  science.  How  else  are  doctors  to  be  made  at 
all  fitted  to  practice  their  noble  art  ?  To  whom,  think  you, 
would  one  of  these  objectors  first  apply,  were  he  sick  or  sore? 

3 


18 

To  the  man  fresh  from  two  courses  of  lectures,  or  to  one  with 
mind  well  stored  and  memory  filled  with  daily  hospital 
experiences  ? 

While  the  governors  stand  on  the  bank  of  the  stream,  hesi- 
tating whether  to  venture  in  or  not,  I  very  much  fear  that  the 
"  powers  that  be  "  may  bring  the  whole  matter  before  the  legis- 
lature, and  on  the  ground  that  the  trust  has  not  been  properly  • 
administered,  attempt  to  get  the  matter  into  their  own  hands. 
As  the  real  estate  now  held  by  the  board  is  so  valuable,  com- 
puted as  it  is  by  millions  of  dollars,  I  shall  be  much  surprised 
if  the  "ring"  do  not  attempt  to  step  in  and  dispense. 

Now  the  profession  acting  in  concert  are  strong,  and  can 
accomplish  much,  either  socially  or  politically.  What  I  would 
propose,  is  that  each  one  of  us  examine  into  the  merits  of  this 
subject,  and  use  all  his  influence  to  secure  the  immediate 
rehabilitation  of  that  Hospital  of  whose  record  in  the  past  we 
are  all  so  proud. 

Since  we  started  in  the  race,  many  of  our  fellows  who  ran 
beside  us  have  fallen  by  the  way.  Some,  stricken  down  sud- 
denly, have  gone  with  harness  on ;  others,  their  vital  forces 
gradually  sapped,  have  lingered  and  suffered.  One  who  was 
dear  to  me  in  my  student  life  entered  the  navy,  and  in  the  ser- 
vice of  his  country  and  of  science  made  his  first  voyage  in 
company  with  the  lamented  Kane,  away  off  amid  the  ice  and 
drear  and  darkness  of  the  Arctic  Sea.  Eeturning  thence  he 
tarried  with  us  for  a  time  until  the  order  came  for  China  and 
the  Indies.  During  the  great  war  of  the  rebellion  he  did  loyal 
service  on  our  coast,  and  at  New  Orleans  and  Mobile.  Thence 
to  the  African  coast,  where  he  fell  a  victim  to  the  fever  which 
has  taken  from  life  so  many  good  and  true.  His  body  now 
rests  fathoms  deep  beneath  the  restless  waves  of  the  southern 
Atlantic.  Alas,  poor  Vreeland  !  The  muse  of  poetry  delights 
to  sing  of  heroes  who  have  died  battling  for  liberty  and  right. 
Peace  has  her  heroes  as  well  as  war,  and  in  no  walk  or  profes- 
sion do  they  more  abound  than  in  ours. 


19 

Enthusiasm  and  the  applause  of  men  stimulate  the  soldier. 
To  be  brave  in  battle  is  the  rule,  the  coward  is  the  exception. 
In  our  ranks  we  are  opposed,  not  to  an  open  enemy,  but  to  a 
secret  and  insidious  foe.  We  have  not  the  applause  of  thou- 
sands to  stimulate  and  cheer.  Pestilence  stalks  abroad,  and 
our  lines  are  thinned  and  decimated  ;  as  one  falls  another  steps 
into  his  place  and  marches  bravely  on  to  almost  certain  death. 

Even  on  the  field  of  battle  the  duties  of  the  surgeon  differ 
from  those  of  the  soldier,  and  so  do  his  rewards.  Well  has 
Freilingrath,  the  greatest  of  living  German  poets,  expressed 
this  in  a  beautiful  lyric  addressed  to  his  son,  a  medical  student, 
serving  as  a  surgeon  in  the  ranks  of  the  fatherland  : 

"  "Well  wouldst  thou  in  the  contest 

Strike  home  for  Fatherland ; 
The  Frenchman's  ranks  thoii  frontest — 

Yet  not  with  sword  in  hand. 
Upon  the  field  thou  servest, 

Yet  not  in  deadly  strife ; 
Thy  hero-hand  thou  nervest 

To  save,  not  sever  life  ! 

"  Thy  heart  so  warmly  glowing 

Impelled  thee  to  the  Rhine : 
Thy  arm  the  red-cross  showing 

"Within  the  German  line. 
Thou  step' St  among  the  stricken 

Upon  the  field  of  gore, 
The  dying  life  to  quicken, 

The  wounded  to  restore. 

"  The  fevered  brow  thou  soothest 

"With  drops  of  heaUng  balm, 
The  wayside  pillow  smoothest 

"When  comes  the  deadly  qualm. 
The  dying  prayer  thou  hearest 

Upon  the  night- wind  swoon, 
In  dying  faces  peerest 

Beneath  the  autumn  moon. 


20 

'  Then  still  through  dead  and  djing 

Thy  faithful  course  pursue, 
And  keep  the  red-cross  flying 

Within  each  warrior's  view. 
Ne'er  from  th)'-  pathway  swerving, 

Friends,  foes,  alike  to  shield — 
Thy  curse  for  him  reserving 

Who  forced  us  to  the  field. 


"  Farewell,  my  boy!  God's  favor 

Attend  thee  to  thy  close ; 
Nor  let  thy  love-task  waver — 

My  blessing  with  thee  goes. 
And  if  we  ne'er  behold  thee 

In  Deutschland's  conquering  van, 
In  fond  embrace  we'll  fold  thee, 

A  boy  no  more — a  man !  " 


Our  Alma  Mater,  in  honor  of  her  heroes,  has  inscribed  many 
names  on  yonder  tablet,  and  testifies  to  her  appreciation  of  their 
worth  in  the  language  of  the  Roman  matron,  "  Haec  mea  orna- 
menta  sunt^ 

When  the  trump  shall  sound,  calling  men  to  their  last  ac- 
count, many  such  will  come  from  the  north  and  the  south, 
from  the  east  and  the  west,  and  from  the  isles  of  the  sea,  to 
receive  their  reward  for  deeds  done  here  in  the  flesh,  but  known 
only  to  him  who  knoweth  all  things. 

Let  "US  take  heed  that  we  place  not  too  high  an  estimate  on 
our  individual  importance.  The  best  of  us — one  or  a  dozen — 
may  be  taken  away,  and  except  by  a  few  near  and  dear  friends 
we  are  hardly  missed.  "  Man  may  come  and  man  may  go,"  but 
the  true  earnest  work  of  the  world  "flows  on  forever." 

As  death  is  so  certain  to  come  to  us  all,  and  to  many  of  us 
so  unexpectedly,  it  is  fitting  not  only  that  we  ourselves  should 
be  prepared  for  it,  but  that  we  should  not  leave  those  depend- 
ing upon  us  to  the  cold  charity  of  the  world.  "He  who 
provides  not  for  his  own  household  is  worse  than  an  infidel." 


21 

Henry  Clay  once  remarked  that  "  it  was  the  fate  of  profes- 
sional men  in  this  country  to  work  hard,  live  high,  and  die 
poor."  The  truth  of  this  saying  is,  alas,  too  often  proven  in 
our  profession.  Hard  work,  it  is  not  desirable  to  avoid ;  it  does 
not  kill,  it  only  ripens  and  mellows  us.  High  living,  why  that 
depends  upon  what  you  call  high.  Generous  living,  provided 
always  it  be  within  our  means,  hurts  nobody ;  in  fact  we  are 
required  to  live  as  do  those  among  whom  we  practice,  and  with 
whom  we  associate.  Must  we  die  poor?  Not  of  necessity. 
In  these  days  of  Life  Insurance  Companies,  "  Societies  for  the 
Eelief  of  Widows  and  Orphans  of  Medical  Men,"  "Physicians' 
Mutual  Aid  Societies,"  etc.,  every  man  is  to  blame  if  he  does 
not  provide  for  the  maintenance  and  comfort  of  those  he  leaves 
behind  him.  "Make  hay  while  the  sun  shines."  No  one 
should  allow  himself  to  live  as  though  clouds  and  storms  might 
never  come.  In  the  day  of  his  prosperity  let  him  put  by  some- 
thing every  year,  and  if  this  be  done  dilligently  he  will  be  sur- 
prised to  see  how  certain  will  be  his  reward. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  this  mother  of  ours,  though  so 
fecund,  should  never  in  all  these  years  have  given  birth  to  a 
girl ;  sons  many,  daughters  none.  This  seems  to  have  been  the 
rule  with  all  "  her  kin  "  until  of  late  years.  We  now  occasion- 
ally hear  of  the  birth  of  daughters  in  medicine ;  and  it  is  worthy 
of  note  that  those  mothers  who  bear  them  seem  to  have  what  is 
called  "a  hard  time,"  and  some  abroad  have  been  in  danger  of 
their  lives  during  gestation.  In  these  advanced  days  of 
woman's  rights,  woman's  suffrage,  etc.,  our  mother,  influenced 
by  surroundings,  may  ^be  suddenly  seized  with  "a  longing," 
and  have  daughters.  If  so,  let  us  boys  treat  them  with  respect 
and  kindness,  never  forgetting  our  manhood. 

In  confidence  I  will  state  to  you  that  our  mother's  health 
has  never  been  better  than  at  the  present  time.  A  consulta- 
tion of  physicians  pronounce  her  sound  and  strong,  and, 
barring  accidents,  sure  of  a  long  life  in  the  future.  It  is  our 
bounden  duty  as  good  sons  to  guard  her  from  accident,  and 


22 

to  cheer  aud  sustain  her,  that  her  old  age  may  be  green  and 
fruitful. 

In  the  strife  between  rivals,  let  her  sons  always  be  generous ; 
let  their  aim  be  to  secure  for  her  such  aid  and  counsel  as  shall 
keep  her  in  the  front  rank,  so  that  her  "  stature  be  not  measured 
by  the  lengthening  shadow  of  her  sun  making  haste  to  its 
setting;." 


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